Chapter 4: Omen (4)

Instinctively sensing something was off, I had to make a quick judgment in that brief moment.

'It feels so cold. This isn't the time to worry about the manager.'

Having made my decision, I turned back and stepped into the convenience store.

I intended to lock the door once I was inside.

Whoosh—

I successfully entered the store and grabbed the door, but the manager, who was following me, caught up faster than I expected, and I couldn't lock the entrance.

Creak— Creak—

The manager, unable to enter because I was blocking the door, stood on the other side of the transparent entrance, glaring at me as if trying to kill me and pounding on the door.

"Manager, what are you doing? Snap out of it!"

"Grrr— Grrr—"

Bang— Bang— Bang—

Sure enough, the manager wasn't in his right mind.

Judging from the fact that communication was impossible, it seemed he couldn't even think properly.

The one fortunate thing was that one side of the convenience store's entrance was a fixed door.

Perhaps because the manager couldn't think clearly, he only pushed the door and didn't try to pull it.

I stood in front of the opposite door, using all my strength to prevent the manager from pushing his way in. That was the only thing I could do.

My 120kg weight unexpectedly came in handy in this situation.

'What is this... Is it like rabies, the respiratory disease that's been trending lately?'

I couldn't just rely on my weight to block the entrance indefinitely, so my mind was racing with how to resolve this situation.

At that moment, the force pushing the entrance door suddenly disappeared.

"…Huh?"

The manager, who had been pushing the entrance door to attack me, was gone.

The manager, who had vanished from my sight, was now running towards a woman passing by the convenience store.

"Wh-What... What if something bad happens? He must be crazy."

Tap— Tap— Tap— Grrr—

The woman, who had been walking with earphones in her ears, tried to run when she belatedly noticed the strange man running towards her.

"Ah! What... What is this?"

But she had noticed too late to escape the manager.

"Aaaah! Why are you doing this? Are you crazy?"

"Grrr— Grrr— Snap! Clack!"

The manager seemed to be trying to bite the woman, gnashing his teeth repeatedly.

In contrast, the woman was desperately pushing the manager away with her handbag to avoid being bitten.

Judging the situation to be serious, I quickly called 112.

"112 Emergency Center. How can I assist you?"

"Here... This... Ah! It's the ○○ convenience store at the Sarui intersection. A man is attacking a woman who's passing by! Please come quickly."

"Could you provide a detailed description of the situation?"

"No, a man who seems drunk is suddenly attacking a woman."

"Does the man have any weapons or items that could be used as threats?"

"No. Just come quickly and help."

Click—

I hung up the phone, thinking that a long conversation would only lead to unnecessary questions, and looked outside.

The woman who was first attacked was trembling, holding her hand, with blood all over her blouse and skirt, apparently bitten by the manager.

The problem was that the manager had disappeared, leaving the bleeding woman.

'Where did he go?'

The manager was about 10 meters away from where he had attacked the woman, wrestling with two passing men.

One of the men was struggling on the ground under the manager.

The other man, who seemed to be his friend, was trying to pull the manager off the man on the ground.

'Ah! The woman! She's bleeding a lot...'

Judging that two young men could easily subdue the older manager, I decided to go to the woman who had been bitten first.

I grabbed the first-aid kit from the convenience store and went to the woman who was crying from the bite.

"Are you okay? Where are you hurt?"

"That crazy man bit my arm. Sob sob."

Looking at the woman's arm, a chunk of flesh was missing, and blood was flowing profusely.

It seemed that even if the wound was treated, it would leave a significant scar.

'Manager, you're done for... What were you thinking?'

I took out a gauze from the first-aid kit and quickly applied it to the wound, pressing firmly to stop the bleeding.

Crack—

"I'll stop the bleeding first, then disinfect and bandage it."

While I was applying the gauze and focusing on the emergency treatment, a scream echoed.

It seemed to come from one of the two men who were confronting the manager.

"Aaaah!! Damn, this guy bit me."

"Damn, what do you mean? I got bitten too. This crazy guy suddenly lunged and bit me."

The man who had been trying to pull the manager off had reflexively let go when the manager bit his arm.

Without anyone holding him back, the manager seemed to have bitten the arm of the man on the ground.

In the end, both men were injured and couldn't stop the manager.

The two men, who had been bitten by the manager, were so angry that they punched and kicked him relentlessly.

Thud— Thud— Thud—

The manager, who seemed to have lost his mind, attacked the two men like he had rabies, even as he was being hit.

"What... What is this? He keeps attacking even when we hit him? Let's just run!"

"Aaaah! Get this guy off me first. Then we can run."

Taking advantage of the man's resistance, his friend kicked the manager's face hard.

Crack— Thud!

The manager, who had been hit in the face, fell backward with his neck bent as if it had broken, his body limp.

"What... What is this? Is he dead? His neck is bent?"

"Hey! Damn! Even if he's crazy, how could you kick his head like that! Damn...! Is... Is self-defense... valid...?"

The two men, bleeding from where they had been bitten by the manager, were worried about the manager's seemingly lifeless body and were pacing back and forth, unsure of what to do.

"Gr-r-r... Grrr... Grrr..."

Thud— Thud—

At that moment, the manager, who had seemed dead, made a strange noise and started moving his body.

He soon got up and looked for the two injured men.

Thud— Thud— Grrr—

Despite being beaten and having his neck bent by a kick from a grown man, the manager's appearance was like that of a demon rising from hell.

The two men, seeing the manager's appearance, looked terrified and started backing away.

"Hey! Hey! Run... Run quickly!"

"Aaaah!"

The two men ran through the crowd of onlookers, making a loud noise.

The woman's screams and cries, along with the shouts of the two men, quickly turned the quiet neighborhood into a chaotic scene.

People from the neighborhood came out in groups, watching the two men struggling with the manager.

With the two men running through the crowd, the onlookers became the perfect targets for the manager.

I shouted at the onlookers, worried.

"That man is crazy and attacks anyone, so stop watching and go home quickly! Hurry up!!"

Even though they had clearly heard my warning, the people who had gathered to watch the fight just murmured among themselves and didn't move.

'No, this is a really dangerous situation, but they don't seem to realize it... It's like they have no sense of danger.'

I found the lack of response from the neighborhood people frustrating, but my priority was to stop the bleeding of the woman who was injured.

After the two men who were about to attack disappeared, the manager, who had been hesitating and looking around, started running towards the loudest onlooker.

Tap— Tap— Grrr—

At first, the onlookers were puzzled by the manager running towards them.

But it didn't take long for their confusion to turn to fear.

The manager's grotesque expression and the blood around his mouth were not fake.

"Aaaah~"

"Aaaah~"

The onlookers, who had been standing still, started screaming and scattering.

Unfortunately for those running, their screams only further agitated the deranged manager.

Because they had ignored my warning and started running too late, it was impossible to completely escape from the manager.

The first target was the loudest onlooker, and soon those around him became additional victims.

About 20 minutes after I called the police, the sound of sirens could be heard at the end of the alley.

Wail— Wail—

Shortly after, the police arrived, and the officers who got out of the car started to subdue the manager, who was covered in blood and acting crazy.

It took a while for the police to arrive after the report, but subduing the deranged manager was quick.

The police restrained the manager, handcuffed him, and put him in the back of the police car. They then began to assess the number and extent of the victims.

Soon after the police arrived, an ambulance also arrived.

I had called 119 after stopping the bleeding of the woman who was first attacked, seeing that the victims were continuing to increase.

The police gathered the victims and transported them to the hospital, planning to take statements after the emergency treatment was completed.

The police first asked me, the first witness, about the details of the incident.

"Mr. Kim Tae-kyung? You were the first to report this, and as the first witness, could you please describe the circumstances of the incident?"

"The perpetrator is the manager of the convenience store where I work. A few days ago, he said he wasn't feeling well after going to see a meteor. After that, he became very sensitive and aggressive..."

I told the police officer, who was taking my statement, about the manager's strange symptoms and the articles I had seen on the internet recently.

However, the police focused only on the fact that a total of six people, including the woman and the two men, had been assaulted by the manager.

"Thank you for your statement. After the emergency treatment of the victims, we plan to take additional statements. We may ask you to come to the police station if necessary, so we'll contact you if needed."

"No... The manager became strange after seeing the meteor! What will happen to our manager?"

"Hmm, from what the paramedics said, the perpetrator is currently in a state of mental weakness and has severe injuries. He will be taken to the hospital for treatment first, and then there will be a police investigation."

The police, having heard only the details of the incident, quickly left.

After the incident was roughly resolved and I returned to the convenience store, the tension started to ease, and fatigue began to set in.

'Sigh, what just happened...'

Sitting behind the counter, I was reflecting on what had happened when I felt a chill.

The strange signs the manager had shown recently and the suspicious content on social media, YouTube, and internet forums flashed through my mind.

My instincts as a military enthusiast and a prepper were shouting loudly.

Prepare in advance...